NEWTON — As summer quickly approaches, county residents are pondering one of the most important questions of the season: where is the best place to get a great hot dog?

One answer might be Jersey Dog in Newton. Mike and June Martin opened Jersey Dog, a brightly-colored restaurant at 77 Water Street, 15 months ago and have been pushing the boundaries of wiener cuisine ever since.

“This has been my husband’s dream since he was a little boy,” explains June as their son Vincent tends to the grill. “His aunt used to have a pushcart and he helped her sell hot dogs when he was only five or six years old.”

Martin notes that as a small family-owned restaurant in a world of big chains, “You have to have a better product. You must have high quality.”

This includes cooking the dogs in pure vegetable oil with zero trans-fats, and using Angus beef for their chili. The Martins try to make Jersey Dog a special kind of place, and customers agree.

Douglas Beck, a first-time customer, was enjoying lunch with his wife and their three daughters.

“This is so good, I’m going to have two!” said his daughter Amanda — a fan of both hot dogs and pizza, found the best of both worlds in a Pizza Dog.

Another daughter, Lauren, exclaimed, “Very good!”

Dogs-a-plenty

Jersey Dog’s menu features a bit of artwork by their son Michael portraying the late family pet, Ezra, chomping on a frank. The menu also offers almost every conceivable topping combination. The dogs themselves can be deep-fried or “dirty water” (boiled) dogs. They even offer a chick pea-based Falafel Dog for vegetarians.

The namesake “Jersey Dog” features a hot dog wrapped in Taylor ham, topped with cheese and crumbled hash brown.

“The kids experimented with toppings," says Martin. "And we found what people liked.”